Shipping case or crate.



H. H. BUSGHER. SHIPPING CASE 0R CRATE. APPLICATION FILED OUT. a1, 1906.

Patented Jan. 26, 1909.

[/VVE/VTOR.

HENjEtY H. BUSOHEB, OF HOQUIAM, WASHINGTON.

SHIPPING CASE OR CRATE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. 26, 1909.

Application filed October 31, 1906. Serial No. $21,470.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY H. BUSGHER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hoquiam, in the county of Chehalis and State of Washington, have invented a new and useful Shipping Case or Crate of which the following is a specification. p

This invention relates to a knock-down shipping crate, coop, or the like, intended for use by manufacturers, farmers, and other producers, for shipping various commodities to consumers or agents in a safe and satisfactory manner, the knockdown feature permitting the case, crate, or the like, to be folded up into a compact space when not in use, so as to enablethem to be stored in close quarters or conveniently reshipped to the producer for use over again.

The invention has for one of its objects to improve and simplify the construction and operation of folding shipping devices of this character, so as to be comparatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture, easy to put to ether or knockdown, and of strong and su stantial construction.

A further object of the invention is to construct a device of independent frames or sections which are capable of being completely set up and held in position by a sort of hook fastener for each of the frames and to be then rigidly secured together by screws, bolts, hooks, or other suitable fasteners.

With these objects in view, and others, as will appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same comprises the various novel features of construction and arrangement of parts, which will be more fully described hereinafter and set forth with particularity in the claim appended hereto.

In the accompanying dravn'ng, which illus trates one of the embodiments of the invention, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the shipping device. Fig. 2 is a detail sectional view taken longitudinally through one end of the device. P ig. 3 is a vertical transverse section of the shipping device or crate knocked down and the parts secured together in a position convenient for storage. rig. llS an end view of the crate showing the parts thereof knocked down and secured together in a position best suited for returning the crate to the producer. Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view of one of the hook fasteners illustrating the manner of connecting and disconnecting the parts together.

Corresponding parts in the several figures are indicated throughout by similar characters of reference.

Referring to the drawing, a designates the bottom or base frame, I) and c the front and rear frames, (1 the end frames, and e the two sections of the top frame. These frames or sections of the shipping device or crate may be made of any desired size, shape, or material, according to the demands of any particular trade. The several frames or sections each preferably, though not necessarily, comprises longitudinal side pieces 1 and end pieces 2 connected together to form rectangular frames open at their centers. The open portions of the frames may be covered with wire netting or slats, as, for instance, when the shipping device is to be used as a coop for live poultry, or the open portions of the frame may be boarded up tight, if desired. The open central portions of the frame may be boarded up in any suitable manner, as, for instance, by providing strips 3, shown in Figs. 2 and 3, for supporting the floor 41:.

The several frames or sections of the crate are provided with hook fastenings of special construction whereby the sections can all be assembled in their proper position and then finally secured together by any ordinary fastening, such as screws, bolts, or the like. The hook fastenings also permit of the crate being taken apart one section at a time without any of the other sections falling out of place. This feature enables one man to set up or take down a crate with great facility and despatch.

The hook fastenings each comprises a pair of plates 5 and 6, on the former of which are a plurality of hooks 7 suitably spaced apart and on the other are openings 8 for receiving the hooks. The plate 5 is connected to one of two adjacent frames and the plate 6 to the other frame, and theframe having the plate 6 is cut away under the openings 8 to form a socket 9 at each of the latter for receiving the free end of the hook 7 under the plate 6. Each of the sockets 9 is open at 10, so that the sockets cannot be filled up with dirt, as the hooks 7 will force any matter collected in the sockets out through the open ends 10. The openings 8 in the plate 6 are of sufficient length to permit the hooks 7 to be entered by a vertical movement, and after the hooks are entered, theyare locked by a lateral movement. By reference to Fig. 5, the locked position of the parts of the hook fastener will be seen in full lines. The hook 7 is engaged under the portion 11 of the plate 6 at one end of the opening 8. The portion 11 is rect-angular in cross section and the top face 12 of the hook is flat, so as to fit under the portion 11. The shank 13 of the hook is of such a length that when the hook is engaged under the'portion 11, the plates 5 and 6 are in intimate contact- Since the plates 5 and 6 are secured to two adjacent frames, it is obvious that the said frames will be prevented from having relative movement away from earh other in a straight line while the hook fastenings are locked in position. To unlock a hook fastening, the frame having" the plate 5 is moved in a lateral direction until the free end of the hook disengaged from the portion 11. At this point, the frame can be lifted in a vertical direction, as indicated by the dotted lines,

, Fig. 5, thereby disconnecting the frames.

In the present instance, I employ six hook fasteners, one between each side frame I) and c and the bottom a, between each. end frame 01- and the bottom, and between each top section c and one of the end frames. The apertured plates 6 of the fastening are arranged on the bottom frame 0; ad acent its edges and on the top pieces of the end frames at, and the hook carrying plates 5 are arranged on the bottom pieces of thesi'de and end frames and on the outer end pieces 2 of the top sections a. In assembling the frames, the bottom a is laced so that the 'lates 6 are facing upw'ar and then the side frames band 0 are successively hooked in osition. To do this, the front frame 6 is held so that the hooks 7 thereof are in alinement with the sockets 9. The frame is lowered so as to lace the hooks in the sockets, and then the frame is moved bodily in a forward direction so as to engage the hooks under the portions 11 of the plate 6. The rear frame 0 is hooked in position in the same manner, except the frame is moved bodily in a rearward direction. After the side frames 6 and c are in position, the end frames are next assembled, the end frames fitting between the side frames. To assemble the top frames, each is first held. so that its ho-ol'tscan. be dropped into the sockets on the tops of the end frames. After the hooks have entered the sockets, the top section moved bodily in an outward direction, while resting on top of the frames 5 and c. This outward movement engages. the hooks under the plates 6 on the adjacent end frame. After the parts are thus assembled, they can be secured or locked together in any suitable manner, as, for instance, by the countersunk bolts 14. In the present illustration, ei ht of these bolts are employed, but in ac-t'ualpractice the number, as Well as the size of the bolts, may

fi5'be'v'aried, as desired. The nuts '15" of thetangle.

bolts are preferably set in the longitudinal or end pieces of the frames and they are held in lace in any desired manner, as, for instance, by screws 16. Two of the bolts are arranged at" each end of the crate for connecting the ends of the side and end frames together,

- and a pair of bolts are arranged adjacent the inner end of each top section e and extend through the longitudinal pieces 1 of the said section and of the side frames for securing the top section to the latter. The bolts 14 also serveto hold the parts of the crate secured together when they are knocked down 7 and packed for storage or for reshipment.

In order to secure the sections of the crate together inknocked down osition for storage, the bolts 14 are first ta en out and then the top sections, end and side frames, successively, taken off the bottom. Four of the bolts are screwed into the nuts 15 of the end frames d and the latter are then placed on the floor 4 of the bottom. The top sections c are next placed on the bottom a with their hooks 7 engaging in the sockets 9 of the bottom, and theend sections d will be located in the open portions of the top sections. The front frame I) is next laced on the twotop sections and two of the olts are inserted through the o enings 17' extending horizontally through t e bottom piece I; of the frame I), as shown in Fig. 1. line with the bolt oles in the top sections. The bolt holes at the front edges of the top sections are provided with the? nuts f8, Fig. l, and the boltsthat are inserted through the openings 17', when the "arts are in the position. shown in Fig. 3, will. screw into the nuts IS. The rear side frame 0 is then laid on the These 0 enings f7 are directly in I front frame I) and the remaining twobo-lts the top sections, the to sections secured to the bottom a by the hoors on the said sections. By piling the front and rear frames on the to sections this manner, the end sections are held in the open spaces of the top sections and are prevented from falling out accidentally by means of the front frame (1, as will be seen from inspection of Fig. 3.

' By packing the parts of the crate in this manner, the crates can be packed together in pairs by reversing the position of one of the V crates and placing them together, so that in transverse outline they are a form of rec- Thus a large number of crates can j be stored in a small space.

To secure the parts of the crates together a i for shipment, the front and rear frames are disposed over the center of the two top seetions, as shown in Fig. 4, and the two bolts for securing the front frame to the top sec tions are passed through the openings in the end pieces of the front frame and through openings 21 in each of the outer end pieces of the top sections, said openings being shown in full lines in I-ig. 1 and in dotted lines in Fig. 4:. At the bolt holes 21 in the top sections are the nuts 22 into which the bolts screw, as shown in Iig. 4. The rear frame 0 is secured to the front frame in the same manner described in connection with I ig. 3. Arranged in this order, the parts of the crate are firmly secured together, so that they can be readily shipped without breakage or loss of any of the parts.

I have described the principle of operation of the invention, together with the apparatus which I now consider to be the best embodiment thereof, but I desire to have it understood that the apparatus shown is merely illustrative, and that various changes may be made, when desired, as are within the scope of the invention.

WVhat is claimed is In a knockdown shippin case or crate, the combination with separa le bottom, top, side and end frames, of inset plates secured flush with the upper faces of the bottom frame members and the under faces of the side and end frame members, one of each pair of plates being provided with hooks, and the other of each pair of plates being provided with orifices to receive the hooks, the orifices being of a size to permit vertical insertion of the hooks, nuts held in place by the plates, and fastening means other than the hooks and orifices for rigidly securing together the several parts of the crate when set up, said fasteningmeans being so disposed that they may be used to secure together the frame members when placed one upon another after being disconnected, and comprising screws arranged to pass through 0 enings formed in the various frame mem ers and to engage with the nuts.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

HENRY H. BUSOHER.

Witnesses:

HERBERT CRABTREE, JOHN G. Fosrnn. 

